TEXT58Apresidentinparadise（恍如置身）天堂的总统（陈继龙编译）Aug10th2006|VICTORIAFromTheEconomistprintedition（1）BESTknownasadestinationforhoneymoonersinsearchofperfectwhitebeachesandswayingpalms,theSeychelleislandsrarelymakeanysortofheadlines.FewtouristswouldevenhavenoticedthepresidentialelectiononJuly30th,inwhichJamesMichel,leaderoftheSeychellesPeople'sProgressiveFront,wasreturnedwith54%oftheballot.ForMrMichel,itwasthefirsttimehehadfacedtheislands'62,000-odd[1]voters,havingbeenpromotedfromvice-presidenttwoyearsagobyhispredecessor,AlbertRené,whohadruledtheislandsfor27yearssincetakingpowerinac________①in1977.说起塞舌尔群岛，许多人只知道它是度蜜月者找寻美丽的白色沙滩和摇曳的棕榈树的目的地之一，除此之外，几乎很少有媒体对其进行报道，就连游客们也很少有人注意到7月30日该国举行的总统选举。这次选举中，塞舌尔人民进步阵线领导人詹姆斯·米歇尔获得了54％的选票。对于米歇尔而言，这是在他两年前被前任总统阿尔伯特·雷纳从副总统提拔为总统后，首次面对该岛6.2万余名选民。雷纳自1977年在一场政变中上台以后已经统治该岛国27年。Tothecasualeye,Seychellesseemsbothfortunateandwell-governed.（2）The115islands,mostofthemuninhabited,coveramere445squarekilometres(175squaremiles)oftheIndianOcean,northofMadagascar,andenjoyseveraladvantagesovermostoftherestofAfrica.Theweatherisnevere_______②.Thereisnomalaria.Theislandershavefreeeducationandhealthcare.Theirmultiracialsocietyisprettyharmonious.WithGDPataround$8,000ahead,thereisalmostnodiscerniblepoverty.乍一看，塞舌尔似乎很幸运，治理得也比较好。它位于印度洋上、马达加斯加以北，全国共有岛屿115个（其中大多数无人定居），总面积仅为445平方公里（175平方英里）。相比非洲其它国家，它拥有不少优势。不冷不热的天气，没有疟疾，岛民们享受免费教育和医疗，他们的多种族社会十分和谐。由于人均GDP大约有8000美元，因此几乎没有明显的贫困现象。Butthisstandardoflivinghascomeatacost:theIMFsaysitspublicdebtistoohighandmaybeunsustainable.MrMichel'smainopposition,theSeychellesNationalParty,whichscored46%intheelections,claimsthatSeychelles,perperson,istheworld'smosti_______③country.（3）Ablackmarketinforeigncurrencyalreadyexistsasspeculationpersiststhatthegovernment,unabletomeetitsobligations,maybeforcedtodevalue.Basicconsumergoodssometimesrunout.If,astheIMFpredicts,GDPfallsbyover1%thisyear,MrMichelmayfindhisnextfiveyearsinpowermoretestingthanhehadhoped.不过，达到这种生活水准是要付出代价的——国际货币基金组织说，该国国债过高，可能难以为继。米歇尔的主要反对党、在本次选举中获得46%选票的塞舌尔民族党断言，塞舌尔是世界上人均负债最多的国家。由于投机买卖屡禁不止，外币交易黑市已然形成，因此无法尽职尽责的政府或许将被迫对货币进行贬值。（译注：meet/fulfilaobligation指“dosomethingthatisyourduty”）基础性消费商品有时候也消耗一空。根据国际货币基金组织预测，如果今年GDP下降超过1%，米歇尔就会感到在随后的五年执政岁月中，他要接受比他所期望的更多的考验。Thecountryneedsmorewaysofmakingmoney.Inthecoldwar,itwaseasy.（4）TheSeychellesplayedeachsideoffagainsttheother,remainingamemberoftheCommonwealthaswellastheNon-AlignedMovementandtakingmilitaryaidfromtheSovietUnionwhileleasingasatellitetrackingstationtotheAmericans.Sincethosestreamsofrevenuedriedup,themainSeychelloisstreamsofrevenuehavebeenfromtourism—l________④landtoforeignhoteliers—andfromtuna[2]:thegovernmentearnsabout$200mayearfromsellingtuna-fishinglicencestoSpain,FranceandSouthKorea.这个国家需要更多赚钱途径。这在冷战时期是很容易的。塞舌尔当时仍然是...